This invention relates in general to brackets for use in vehicle transmissions, and in particular to an improved bracket for securing a solenoid to a valve body in a vehicle automatic transmission.
In most vehicles, a transmission is provided in the drive train between the engine and the driven wheels. As is well known, the transmission includes a housing containing an input shaft, an output shaft, and a plurality of gears which can be selectively connected between the input shaft and the output shaft. By controlling the connection of the gears, various forward and reverse gear ratios can be obtained to provide smooth and efficient operation of the vehicle.
In an automatic transmission, the connection of the gears is usually controlled by a hydraulic control system. Typically, the hydraulic control system includes a pump which provides pressurized transmission fluid, and a plurality of valves for controlling the flow of the transmission fluid to control the connection of the gears. The valves are often mounted in a valve body within the transmission housing. In many late-model vehicles, the transmission is controlled electronically by the use of an electronic control unit, various sensors, and solenoids. As the solenoids are turned on and off, they open and close the valves within the transmission to control the connection of the gears.
The solenoids are generally secured to the valve body with brackets. The usual practice is to weld the bracket to the solenoid at the time of manufacture of the solenoid, or to form the bracket as an integral part of the solenoid assembly. The valve bodies for different transmissions have different configurations, and different locations for mounting solenoids on the valve body often have different configurations. Consequently, different solenoid/bracket assemblies are manufactured to accommodate the different transmissions and different valve body locations. The manufacture of many different types of solenoid/bracket assemblies is relatively costly and the inventory expense is relatively high. Also, the welding of the brackets to the solenoids is time consuming and may cause damage to the solenoids. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved solenoid bracket which allows more cost efficient manufacture, greater flexibility of manufacture, and less inventory. It would also be desirable to avoid the need for welding the bracket to the solenoid.